Marv by Michael Batista!
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have a Marv by Michael Batista.
Category: Crime
“Johnny O’Clock” (1947) starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes and Lee J. Cobb / Z-View
Johnny O’Clock (1947)
Director: Robert Rossen
Screenplay: Robert Rossen; story by Milton Holmes
Stars: Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch, Thomas Gomez, John Kellogg, Phil Brown, Fred Aldrich and Jeff Chandler.
Tagline: Time Was Running Out For Johnny O’Clock … and so were his women!
The Plot…
Johnny O’Clock runs a casino for gangster Guido Marchettis. Johnny is everything that Guido is not. Johnny is well-liked, well-spoken and a favorite of everyone… especially Nelle, Guido’s wife. She keeps her attraction to Johnny a secret from everyone but Johnny.
Johnny has no interest in Nelle. That doesn’t stop Nelle from giving Johnny the gift of an expensive engraved watch. It’s an even better version of one she gave Guido on his birthday. Johnny doesn’t want the watch or Nelle’s attention. He writes a note telling Nelle to stop. Johnny gives the note and watch to the casino’s hat-check girl, Harriett to return to Nelle.
The next day Harriett is found dead from an apparent suicide. Harriett’s sister, Nancy is notified of her sister’s death. Nancy arrives wanting to know why her sister killed herself. She meets Johnny and they learn that Harriett was murdered. As Nancy and Johnny work to sort out who would want to kill Harriett, they begin to fall in love.
Police Inspector Koch gets the case. He learns that Harriett was dating Chuck Blayden, a crooked cop interested in leaving the force and taking over Johnny’s role at the casino. Inspector Koch finds Johnny’s note and the expensive watch. This adds both Johnny and Guido to his list of suspects. It also makes Guido believe that Johnny and his wife, Nelle were having an affair.
The person behind Harriett’s death decides Johnny is next… and Nancy too if she gets in the way.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Johnny O’Clock features Robert Rossen’s debut as a director. Although in a TCM interview Nina Foch (who played Harriett) asserted that Rossen wasn’t the film’s actual director. Foch never said who it was though.
Jeff Chandler, although uncredited, appears in his second feature film role. Chandler credited Dick Powell for getting him the part.
I enjoyed Johnny O’Clock but most folks like it even more than I do.
Johnny O’Clock (1947) rates 3 of 5 stars.
Punisher by Eduardo Risso!
Show of hands, who’d love to see a Punisher graphic novel by Eduardo Risso?
Ok, you can put your hands down now. It was unanimous.
“Everybody Be Cool” – A Worthy Alt Poster by Rich Davies for “From Dusk Till Dawn”!
“Everybody Be Cool” – a worthy alt poster for the very under-rated From Dusk Till Dawn by Rich Davies. You can see more of Davies’ art here.
Marv and Nancy by Jamie Jones!
Marv from Frank Miller’s Sin City is one of my all-time favorite characters. I love seeing artists do their “take” on the big lug. Today we have a Marv and Nancy by Jamie Jones.
“Shattered” (1991) written & directed by Wolfgang Peterson, starring Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins and Greta Scacchi / Z-View
Shattered (1991)
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Screenplay: Wolfgang Petersen; based on THE PLASTIC NIGHTMARE by Richard Neeley
Stars: Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi, Joanne Whalley, Corbin Bernsen, Bert Rosario, Kellye Nakahara, Frank Cavestani and Theodore Bikel.
Tagline: A love he can’t forget. A murder he can’t remember.
The Plot…
Dan Merrick wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how he got there. His injuries were gruesome. He barely lived. His face required reconstructive plastic surgery. The concussion left him with psychogenic amnesia. But he lived.
Dan learns driving home late one night he and Judith, his wife, were involved in a terrible accident. The car went off the road and over a steep embankment. Judith suffered minor injuries when she was thrown from the car. Dan has no memory of the accident or anything from his past. The doctors say it could slowly return… or not.
Judith is so loving and attentive to Dan as he recovers. Dan learns he was a partner in an architectural firm. Slowly flashes of memory come to Dan but they make no sense. As Dan is going through things he comes across hidden photos. They are of Judith. With another man. Judith was cheating on him!
As Dan’s memory slowly returns he begins to wonder about the accident. The same wreck that nearly killed him, left Judith with minor injuries. If Judith and her lover were trying to kill him, Dan is sure that they will conspire to finish the job.
If only he could remember…
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Shattered delivers as a Hitchcockian psychological erotic thriller. It’s a fun neo-noir mystery filled with surprises and a fun twist ending.
Shattered reminds me of a film that would have been made in the 1940s, but instead is a product of 1990s film sensibilities.
I love it.
Shattered (1991) rates 5 of 5 stars.
“Con Air” Alt Poster by Vlad Rodriguez!
Vlad Rodriguez is a Miami based illustrator. Rodriguez has a passion for film. Here’s his alt poster for Con Air!
“Caught Stealing” written by Charlie Huston, directed by Darren Aronofsky; starring Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio and Benito Martinez Ocasio / Z-View
Caught Stealing (2025)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Screenplay: Charlie Huston; based on CAUGHT STEALING by Charlie Huston
Stars: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Griffin Dunne, Shaun O’Hagan, Action Bronson, Matt Smith, Nikita Kukushkin, Yuri Kolokolnikov, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Oleg Prudius, Liev Schreiber, Benito Martinez Ocasio, Bad Bunny, Carol Kane and Vincent D’Onofrio.
Tagline: 2 Russians, 2 Jews and a Puerto Rican walk into a bar…
The Plot…
Henry “Hank” Thompson was a baseball phenom headed to the big leagues straight out of high school. Then a tragic auto accident left a friend dead and Hank with a career-ending injury. A career that never even had a chance to get started.
That was ten years ago. 1988. Now Hank is a New York City bartender. He drinks too much, lacks real ambition, and still loves The San Francisco Giants. Oh, Hank also loves Yvonne. She’s a positive influence and it looks like they may have a future. Life is good. Except for his nightmares about the car crash. What could have been and what was.
Still, with Yvonne, life is on the right track.
When Hank’s neighbor, Russ Miner has to leave for a few days to visit his hospitalized father, Hank is talked into taking care of Russ’ cat. It isn’t long after, that two Russian mobsters show up. They’re looking for Russ. When Hank cannot give the thugs the answers they want, they beat Hank nearly to death.
Detective Elise Roman questions Hank. She thinks he’s withholding information. He’s not. Detective Roman informs Hank that the Russians are dangerous. (No kidding.) Worse still, his neighbor Russ works for the infamous Drucker brothers. The Drucker brothers are known killers, but never leave anyone alive willing to testify against them. Detective Roman warns Hank that with the Russians and the Druckers after him, he won’t have long to live. Neither will anyone close to him. If the Russians don’t get them, the Druckers will.
Hank has no clue what everyone is looking for. Hank understands if he doesn’t figure it out, he’s dead… and so are his family and friends.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
Charlie Huston’s Henry “Hank” Thompson trilogy (CAUGHT STEALING / SIX BAD THINGS / A DANGEROUS MAN) earned the #1 spot in my favorite books of 2006. They get my highest recommendation. Although the movie makes changes from the novel, I still loved the adaptation.
Caught Stealing is exceptionally well cast. It is my favorite Austin Butler film. It would be cool to see the rest of the Hank Thompson trilogy adapted and Butler make the transformation to A DANGEROUS MAN. Zoë Kravitz is perfect as Hank’s love interest. Kudos also to Regina King, Griffin Dunne, Shaun O’Hagan, Liev Schreiber, Bad Bunny, Carol Kane and Vincent D’Onofrio. They shine.
Caught Stealing has a couple of shocking twists. It also has the right mix of suspense, humor and action. I loved it. Caught Stealing gets my highest recommendation.
Caught Stealing (2025) rates 5 of 5 stars.
Sly Stallone is the “Tulsa King” by Thomas Boatwright!
A couple of months ago I was going through the Zablo vault, and I came across a watercolor of Cobra by Thomas Boatwright that I’d never posted.
At that time I said that Boatwright used to regularly livestream art and for a few years was a guest at HeroesCon. Getting art from Thomas Boatwright was always a joy. Sadly, that was years ago.
Well, just this week Boatwright posted in his newsletter that he was taking a limited number of watercolor digital commissions. I usually am not interested in digital art for my collection, but getting another from Thomas Boatwright was just too sweet to pass on. I asked for his take on Sly as Dwight Manfredi from “Tulsa King” and Boatwright came through royally.
Juan Saniose presents “It Can’t Rain All the Time”
Juan Saniose presents It Can’t Rain All the Time.
“Sean Combs: The Reckoning” (2025) / Z-View
Sean Combs: The Reckoning (2025)
Executive Producer: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson
Director: Alexandria Stapleton
Cast: Sean Combs, Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Janice Combs, Mark Curry, Kirk Burrowes, Aubrey O’Day, Suge Knight, Andre Harrell, Kalenna Harper, Al B. Sure!, Kim Porter, Cassie Ventura and Snoop Dogg.
Tagline: None.
The Plot…
Sean Combs: The Reckoning uses archival footage/interviews from the early 1990s to present day to cover the rise of Sean Combs from a college student intern to hip hop mogul to industry powerhouse able to put his name on a variety of products and make them best-sellers to a convicted felon doing several years in prison.
The four part documentary, through the use of archival news reports, court verdicts and interviews with accusers and those who claim to witnessed the events, details Sean Combs’ proven and or/alleged…
- longterm sexual and emotional abuse of women
- sexual assault and drugging of women… including rape, videotaping sexual assaults and playing the tapes for friends
- sexual assault and harrasment of men
- drugging men and women in order to take advantage of them
- using intimidation and threats to regularly take advantage of business partners, cheating them out of money due or simply not paying them.
- questions about Combs’ involvement in the murders of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.
- infamous “freak off” parties where people were secretly videotaped having sex, coerced or drugged for sex
- involvement as co-promoter of the 1991 “first annual Heavy D and Puff Daddy Celebrity Charity Basketball Game” where dozens of people were injured and nine people died when nearly 5,000 people pushed to get in a gym with a capacity of 2,730. No criminal charges were filed, but Combs settled with families in civil court.
- involvement in a 1999 shooting incident while dating Jennifer Lopez. Combs was arrested on a weapons and bribery charge. He was acquitted of all charges. Still there are those who say Combs should have been found guilty.
- and more.
Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…
If only some of the allegations are true (and we know many are), Sean Combs is perfect example of how power can corrupt.
I am not a huge hip-hop fan, but I found the documentary compelling.
Sean Combs: The Reckoning (2025) rates 5 of 5 stars.
THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY BY John D. MacDonald / Z-View
THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY by John D. MacDonald
First sentences…
I was in deep sleep, alone aboard my houseboat, alone in a half acre of bed, alone in a sweaty dream of chase, fear, and monstrous predators.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
At 4am, Travis McGee is awakened from dark dreams by someone climbing aboard his boat, The Busted Flush. The intruder is Carrie Milligan, a former lover. She’s scared, but won’t say why. The only thing she brought with her is a suitcase. A suitcase full of cash.
Carrie asks Travis to hold the suitcase. If she doesn’t return in two weeks, Travis is to give the cash to Carrie’s sister. Travis can keep ten grand for his troubles. Travis agrees.
Two weeks pass. Carrie doesn’t return. Then Travis learns she was killed in an auto accident in the small coastal town of Bayside. Travis decides to look into Carrie’s death. It’s too coincidental that she was killed during a time she was worried she might not return to claim the suitcase.
Travis goes to Bayside and starts digging into Carrie’s last hours. Clues lead him to an apartment complex managed by a wanna-be tough guy everyone calls Big Daddy. Travis also meets a lawyer and judge who warn Travis about sticking his nose in unwanted places.
Travis keeps digging. The people behind Carrie’s murder have too much at stake to let a beach bum like Travis McGee screw things up. They plan to fix that.
+++
THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY is the sixteenth of 21 Travis McGee novels.
In 1972, John D. MacDonald was named a grandmaster of the Mystery Writers of America. MacDonald is best known for his Travis McGee novels as well as a standalone thriller (THE EXECUTIONERS) that was retitled Cape Fear when adapted into a movie (twice).
THE DREADFUL LEMON SKY by John D. MacDonald
Rating:
Merry Christmas! (from Gravedigger, Rick Burchett, Chris Mills… and me)
Tonight is Christmas Eve, so let me get an early start to wish those of you who celebrate, MERRY CHRISTMAS!
The art above was created by Rick Burchett. Rick and Chris Mills (RIP) created one of my all-time favorite comic characters, Digger McCrae aka Gravedigger. If you like great crime comics, you’d love Gravedigger!
“Dark Winds” Season 4 Teaser: “The Price of the Badge” is Here!
I’ve enjoyed Dark Winds Seasons 1-3, so let’s check out the Season 4 Teaser Trailer – The Price of the Badge.
Deal me in.
#DarkWinds Season 4 premieres February 15 on AMC and AMC+.
“The Beauty” starring Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher and Rebecca Hall – The Poster and Teaser are Here!
This looks like fun. Check out the poster and teaser for The Beauty starring Evan Peters, Ashton Kutcher and Rebecca Hall.
Deal me in.
In FX’s The Beauty, when international supermodels begin dying in gruesome and mysterious ways, FBI Agents “Cooper Madsen” (Evan Peters) and “Jordan Bennett” (Rebecca Hall) uncover a conspiracy that threatens the future of humanity. The investigation leads them directly into the crosshairs of “The Corporation” (Ashton Kutcher), who will stop at nothing to protect his trillion-dollar empire.
